Welcome to part 2 of Douglas Anderson’s serialised blog covering life, the universe and everything.
Part II: The Universe
Given the emerging insights from genetic research, human bodies should not be viewed as “closed systems”, but rather as being influenced by a complex universe of environmental, behavioural and economic factors. The healthiness of our habits, which may follow fashions and tribal patterns, are particularly important. And those, in turn, can be influenced by both carrots (education) and sticks (taxes).
It’s encouraging to see a (sharp) decline in tobacco smoking falling from a rate of 21% in 2008 to 15% in 2018, thanks in part to the emergence of vaping (which did not exist in 2008). And alcohol consumption is down too, nudged downwards by higher alcohol taxes, lower recommended units and lower drink-drive limit.
Anecdotally, I think – or at least I’d like to think – that there’s a growing appreciation that prevention is better than cure. Positive leading indicators include the gaudy weekend Middle-Aged-Men-in-Lycra phenomenon (yes, there are photos of me like this!), the growing adoption of fitness trackers and even the popularity of stand-up desks.
On the negative side, the combination of austerity and ageing has caused capacity problems in our health and social care system, there is a growing resistance to antibiotics and we have an epidemic of diabetes following on from sedentary lifestyles. Policymakers are, at last, starting to tackle sugar addiction, but only after the number of type II diabetics rose from 2.4m 2008 to 3.3m today. Deputy leader of the opposition, Tom Watson has shown what a change of diet and lifestyle can deliver.
To make longevity gains more uniform, education – or the awareness of the nature of healthy lifestyles - looks increasingly important. People need support to change unhealthy and addictive habits like tobacco, alcohol, sugar and even box sets. Brave political leadership required? Without it, does longevity actually become a matter of personal choice? Or indeed, has it already?
Whilst I am an inveterate optimist, it’s by no means certain that longevity will continue rising for all groups in our society. What is certain is that long-term uncertainty exists and will continue to exist.
Tune in next week for part 3.
Douglas
